Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-10-25
LEE IN BRAZILIAN FORESTS.
A Naturalist Tells of His Adventures and
His archaeological Treasures.

nj, archaeological Treasures,
Clarence b. Riker, a member of the
American Ornithological society, has Just
returned from two months Of bug and
bird hunting in the forests Of Brazil.
my wife and l." said Mr.. Riker TO a re-
porter. ''went by steamer from here to
Para at the mouth of the Amazon. There
we changed 10 a smaller steamboat that
took us up the river 500 miles TO San
tarem. There we took canoe and were
padJl.J hy Indian boys through miles Of
narrow channels that wind in and out
through a vast region of flooded forest.
After qse had gone as far as we could in
u AN OK cart was backed hub deep
into the water, and we transferred our.
selves and baggage into it. We then
rode along well beaten forest paths, cx-
tending for miles through magnificent
timber. The dense foliage made u per.
feet shade. and the paths were as hard as
our roads.
When we arrived at the plantation
which we had decided TO make our head
quarters, we found a comfortable house
with concrete walls. a tiled roof and ham,
mock beds. The planters have fowls,
swine and cattle, and raise the principal
vegetables and fruits that we have. The
seeds of the palm tree are made into vari-
Gus nouri,hing dishes. One Of the staple
articles of food is a fish called pirarucu.
Ii is dried for market and resembles cod
fish. The natives live almost entirely on
bananas and farinha, a coarse meal made
from the mandioca root. Many Of the
planters raise sugar cane, and from it
make whisky to supply to the rubber
gathercrs. The fermented juice Of the
palm is another drink used by the natives,
and a delicious wine is made from n fruit
called caiu. and also from juice CX-
tracted from the pulp surrounding the
Cocoa bean. This drink is universally
liked by foreigners. hut for the others one
must acquire the taste.
There are very few mosquitoes. hut
there arr some things worse. The mo-
coene. an almost microscopic insect,
cling 10 the flesh, AMI. If not removed
by rum W lemon juice. causes severe ir-
ritation. Large vampire bat, often Nv
in ones face NJ night. They are four
.imt, the ,i2r OF our bats. Many ma
tiycs h,..g scars from their teeth
"TaIanrpIl, were Frequently ,,,n on
fine ,.rapJa and .3uatim,. in I'm. bnusn.
Their lin. !, moi considered deadly. iut
the minur.. hairs with which their larp
Is covered an. r~,is,nr,,s. and cans l. rr,-
lie irrir,r,Y II We Irft the Ioors nr Tho
hou... ,t,u II ri,,t l,r,, tn,J. which.
ipo % u.,.pl and 9, LalC ,ri,.. ,v,o,li L,r
in 6pn ,i.H,t ms Win y,,. auY., p,I
hy brar,.s -.g,r nu;nuI movi,-. Ia tina
roam. W. ,,arIa -o nothing hur from
IA. ..,,rl AZ. wan. .,,,,. tb,t II mus, Is
tiger or. Al l,a.t. a wildcat. ON strik.
inc n l.ght. II turned out to hr , r,,.um.
"lUi,g,inrs wore uI.ntirul in ri. hr, ok
mar tbr Lnu.e. and = dcadly ,,.,I5.raIcd
,~irocucu il rreourutly fomi rrouchinp in
the mathis Of the forest. w capturrl ,
ba, constructor TWENTY-FIVE feet long.
Rattls,pakrs are numerous ON the campos
or o,an mains.
.Lraying INV wife at lin uIaptat;ous.I
made eycursipns iutn the forest in search
of birds and insects. I generally went
with tLr, or four other Americans and
several Indian guides. Al NIGHT the In.
dians wpu,d make a matched bmse ont
of palm leaves. When thirsty we would
cut the ro,t uf the tarprela. which /, hol.
low and contains nearly A Mint nr water.
Game was plenty. There were wild hons.
tapir. MONKEYS. wild turkeys, ,nccarie,
and a great variety Of birds. We fre.
oucuily Jaw the tracks Of iagIars near
our hul. lat did mo-, meet any of them,
To obtain some rare specimgn, Of birds
yc r,u,,rIrd far into line d,p,Ls If the
fore,l. measured one n.lm leaf and